The Great Depression tested the integrity of American families in major ways by placing great financial, societal, psychological burdens and demands upon families and their members. Families of diverse backgrounds, responded in different manners to the pressures and strains placed upon them by this situation. Both working-class and middle-class families, presenting various styles of family relationships, were affected drastically by the Depression. Though no two people had the same understanding and experience of the Great Depression, everyone felt the challenges and changes this event brought upon the nation. However, this event during the 1930s inspired a movement of reform and new individualism that spread throughout the American social structure. The Depression widened inequality of wealth and income. The “unemployment [rate] stood at 25 percent of the work force,” (Baker, 105) during the Great Depression. During these times there was compassion for those in need, but also heartbreaking rejection. After losing
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The Depression emphasizes the resilience and knack of the family to adjust in the face of adverse economic circumstances. Some families, did not struggle from major economic deficits during the 1930s, such as Uncle Allen to whom “the daily news stories of deepening hard time did not unnerve[d] him” (Baker, 89). But even among those that were, many were able to maintain relatively ‘normal’ patterns of family life. Those accepting “government handouts” were seen as “idle no-accounts without enough self-respect to pay their own way in the world,” (Baker, 200). In the years after the Depression, many were able to recall the era, perhaps with an exaggerated sense of wistfulness, as a period of family togetherness and solidarity. “Someday we shall recall these trials with pleasure,” stated Baker in his memoir, Growing Up (Baker,
The Depression emphasizes the resilience and knack of the family to adjust in the face of adverse economic circumstances. Some families, did not struggle from major economic deficits during the 1930s, such as Uncle Allen to whom “the daily news stories of deepening hard time did not unnerve[d] him” (Baker, 89). But even among those that were, many were able to maintain relatively ‘normal’ patterns of family life. Those accepting “government handouts” were seen as “idle no-accounts without enough self-respect to pay their own way in the world,” (Baker, 200). In the years after the Depression, many were able to recall the era, perhaps with an exaggerated sense of wistfulness, as a period of family togetherness and solidarity. “Someday we shall recall these trials with pleasure,” stated Baker in his memoir, Growing Up (Baker,